Taking the Android plunge

Pulse app on Android, by Johan Larsson

I am doing that thing with technology: buying it and ignoring it because I am just too busy and what I’ve got works.

The technology in question is the T-Mobile Pulse Mini smart (sic) phone, which runs the Android operating system. A smart phone with an Open Source operating system, that has a Remember The Milk app which means I can Get Things Done, all for under four ponies? What could possibly go wrong?

Well, I’ve taken the plunge now, using it as my Central Communications Device for over a week, so I can tell you: how do I write a text? Where is the dictionary? How do I create compound words? Why won’t the SD card mount on my Ubuntu desktop? Why does an ex-colleague’s details come up when I access my voicemail? What do the symbols on the home screen mean? Do I really have to read the manual? Etcetera.

I feel like my Dad. He’s had a mobile phone for 10 years but still doesn’t know how to text. I’m sure all these issues are teething problems but it’s so easy for technology to put you off learning anything.

The positive side is that I’ve discovered a whole new world of pain, and my local Linux Users Group has been invaluable in my exploration of this world. I have also remembered a story from my childhood, previously long forgotten:

I was incredibly excited about my first ever trip to the swimming pool with my Mum. On coming out of the changing room, I made a break for it, running full pelt, jumping straight into the pool and sinking like a stone. After I’d been hauled out by the lifeguard, I berated my poor Mum, saying “Why didn’t you tell me I couldn’t swim?!?”.